Thinking Digital, Acting Personal

If there’s one thing striking and perhaps puzzling about the Toronto high-tech community – and, for that matter, tech communities around the world – it’s how everyone is so digital/wired but so hungry to be personal.

For all the e-mail, Twitter-ing, Facebook-ing, IM-ing, Blackberry-ing and text-messaging, and all the time spent hunkered over computers, many people have this innate need to be together. It’s not enough to communicate digitally through various mediums; there must be personal contact – and so much the better if it involves beer.

DemoCamp 18 earlier this week is a good example. On a hot summer night, about 200 people crammed themselves into a sauna that’s usually a hip restaurant. The presentations were alright but it was more impressive to see so many people there. It struck me as a club where you get to meet with people who walk your walk and talk your talk.

I asked a recruiter, who was hanging out at the bar, if the size of the crowd had any correlation to activity within Toronto’s tech community. With a beer in hand, he looked around and said there was a “modest” amount happening but the enthusiasm in the room had more to do with networking and socializing.

What I find particularly interesting is how the need to talk stands in contrast with the fact people are loathe to talk on the phone – preferring instead to Twitter, IM, text or e-mail. Michael Arrington, who organizes many social events and conferences, recently wrote a post suggesting people not leave voice-mail messages because it takes longer to listen to a message than read it.

I’m not sure whether “paradox” is the right word but for all the digital chatter happening, people are still people with a desire/need to be analog. This explains the plethora of events, conferences (mesh is as much a social as a conference) and meet-ups, as well as why many people still flying around to meetings despite the time, energy and environmental impact involved.

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